September19, 2007

Mr. Speaker, as air travel increases, revenue to airports, of course, increases as well. Much of that money is from hidden taxes passengers pay. But now this increased revenue isn't enough for some. They want to tax fliers even more to fly.

Right now, if a citizen buys a typical round trip ticket, the fare is about $230. But additional taxes raise the fare another $45. So the passenger is now really paying $275.

Airports now want to collect more Federal taxes from each passenger by increasing the passenger facility charge, another word for tax, to $7 per passenger per segment. What that means is a family of four that flies from Odessa, Texas, to Washington, D.C., with a stopover in Dallas, is going to pay another $112 in more taxes.

Airports already get plenty of money. They sell bonds; they get millions in Federal, City and State taxes; they charge airlines for gates and the right to land; they get taxes off rental cars; and they lease airport space to businesses.

Airports should make do with the abundance of revenue they already get from the taxpayers. Don't raise taxes any more on passengers.